Tuesday's Talons: Indigo Holo Chrome NOTD

Currently watching: Boardwalk Empire

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have a very simple manicure for you featuring Barry M Indigo as the base:

 

This polish is so difficult to capture accurately on film.  In reality it bears a much closer resemblance to indigo ink.

I did this manicure when I was rushing so instead of stamping, I decided to layer a coat of Kleancolor Holo Chrome on top.

I love the overall effect of these two polishes together.  I think you'll be seeing this combination again in winter ;-)

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping: Golden Leaves NOTD

Currently watching: Skyfall

Good evening girls!

My posting schedule has gone right out the window, hasn't it?  I apologise.  This week will be better!

 

 Tonight I'd like to show you a manicure which you've seen better in a different colour scheme.  Originally the base was Accessorize Pink Spice and when I wore it to work a colleague requested I did it again in colours more suited to her colour palette (ie browns).

This time I used Beauty UK Topaz as the base, stamped the leaves using Barry M Mushroom and Red Angel plate RA 121 and used a dotting tool and Accessorize Magical Mocha for the dots.

What do you think girls?  Do you like repeating manicures in different colours?

Bye for now,

Laura

Wednesday's Purple Flash Confetti NOTD

Currently watching: Have I Got News For You

Good morning girls!

Today I have a pretty purple glitter manicure for you:

 

The base is H&M Purple Flash and the glitter is Essence Circus Confetti.

 I love the look of mattified glitter so I layered a coat of Rimmel Mattifying Topcoat over the top.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Green Fingers NOTD

Currently watching: Boardwalk Empire

Good morning lovely ladies,

I have yet another manicure featuring autumn leaves for you today.  I know I'm over-using my leaf stamp but I'm having trouble finding other suitable images for autumn.  Any ideas (note: Halloween manicures are not my style)?

 

 For this one, I used a much neglected Essence polish, Just in Case.  I bought this a few years ago but I rarely wear it as I find it a tricky shade to pull off.

 I then sponged Barry M Teal over my nails to add texture.

My next step was to stamp two leaves on each nail using Barry M Gold Foil and Red Angel plate RA 121.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS I've set up a new Twitter account.  The more followers and support I get, the more active I will be!  Follow me @LH24Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Homemade Spell NOTD

Currently listening to: Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol

Good morning dear readers!

Today I'd like to show you a manicure featuring Nails Inc Tate as the base:

 

 

  

This polish is super glossy and dramatic, perfect for eye-catching nails.

 In real life it appeared slightly darker than the shade you see in these photos.  I decided it could be a good polish to use for my own take on Barielle Elle's Spell, a polish I love seeing swatches of but which isn't available here in the UK.

 I added a coat of Essence Night in Vegas to make the transformation from Tate to Elle's Spell.  In real life the outcome did not appear so orange but you get the idea.

 I then stamped with one of my favourite stamping plates which I've neglected recently, Bundle Monster BM 224, and Barry M Gold Foil.

I really liked the outcome as I thought it was quite classy and I love the combination of red and gold.  What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Pink Mocha Leaf NOTD

Currently listening to: The Flood by Take That 

Good afternoon lovely ladies,

I warned you in my last post that you'd be seeing a lot of manicures featuring autumn leaves this month.  Here's my second one :-)

 

 

I used two coats of the beautiful Accessorize duochrome Pink Spice and stamped two golden leaves on each nail using Barry M Gold Foil and Red Angle plate RA 121.

 I then took inspiration from Spellbinding Nails once again and added dots to my nails with a dotting tool and Accessorize Magical Mocha.  At least I think it was Magical Mocha.  The only other possibility is Accessorize Storm.

 I really liked the way this turned out, especially as it was my first team teaming dots with stamping.

 However, I didn't stop there, I ended up adding a coat of Rimmel Mattifying Top Coat to give my manicure a matte finish, which I also really liked.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Autumn Leaves NOTD

Currently reading: How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I'd like to show you what can only be described as my first autumnal manicure.

 

 

I started with two coats of Beauty UK Topaz, a soft gold shimmer which applied beautifully.  I think this is the first time I've worn this polish even though it's been in my collection for some time now.  I'll definitely be using it more often now that I've seen what a great shade it is.

 My next step was to sponge on a layer of Essence Just in Case.  I normally only sponge glitter on my nails but Spellbinding Nails inspired me to be more adventurous with my sponging.

 I then stamped three leaves on each nail using Autograph Purple Rain and Bundle Monster plate BM04.  I sense this is going to be an image I'll be using a lot this month as I absolutely love the leaf design.

What do you think of this girls?  I'm glad I was more adventurous with my sponging but I don't think the blend of gold and brown really added anything to this manicure.  Perhaps I'll be wiser with my colour choices next time I try this.

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Glorious Silver NOTD

Currently watching: 10 Things I Hate About You

Good evening lovely ladies,

Today I have a very simple manicure to show you which I wore to the office yesterday (dress down Friday):

 

 

This was inspired by Pretty Digits, one of my favourite bloggers, who created this manicure a while back.

 I used one coat of Barry M Silver Foil as my base and then a layer of Essence Glorious Aquarius.

 Simple yet stunning.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Vegas Roses NOTD

Currently watching: John Bishop: The Sunshine Tour

Good evening lovely ladies,

The lack of light when I come home from work is having a seriously negative effect on my inspiration and motivation :-( 

 

However, I managed to create this colourful manicure for you a few days ago using LM 21 as the base layered with Essence Night in Vegas.

 I stamped using Barry M Pomegranate (another polish from the Gelly Hi-Shine collection) and Born Pretty Store plate m76.  The idea was to stamp the floral image in two diagonal corners but my placing was a bit off and my nails aren't really long enough for what I had in mind.  Still, I was happy with it and I loved the lift Night in Vegas gave this manicure.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Holographic Rain NOTD

Currently listening to: Hunter by Dido 

Good evening girls,

Today I'd like to show you a discovery I made the last time I was in Marks & Spencer: a beautiful pink holographic polish!

I was actually buying nail polish as a gift for someone when Purple Rain by Autograph caught my eye and I just couldn't resist getting it for myself.

 It's a beautiful colour, regardless of how strong the holo effect is.  Due to a lack of recent sunshine, I could only capture it under artificial light, which isn't the best, but you get the idea.

 I wore this polish on its own for a day before deciding to jazz it up by doing a half-moon manicure with Kiko 255, a similar type of polish.

I then decided to add a layer of B.O 59 glitter and position a silver star at the side of each nail.  I kind of wish I'd left the half-moon as it was though...

What do you think girls?  Have you found any holographic polishes in unlikely places?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Pear and Blackberry Flower NOTD

Currently watching: Game of Thrones

Good morning dear readers,

Today I would like to show you a manicure I created using two polishes from the new Barry M Gelly range.  I used a lovely lavender shade, Prickly Pear (ridiculous name), as my base:

 

 These polishes are advertised as offering "hi-shine" and as you can see from this photo, they certainly deliver.  I applied two thick coats to achieve this coverage and had no problems with application.

 I then sponged Essence It's Purplicious on my tips before stamping a floral pattern on the side of each nail using Born Pretty Store plate m76 and Barry M Blackberry.

 I also added a touch of It's Purplicious to the centre of each flower as I was in the mood for a manicure that would sparkle and get noticed.

What do you think girls?  This is an image I hadn't previously used but I really like how this manicure turned out :-)

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Lilac Sorbet Princess NOTD

Currently watching: Strictly Come Dancing

Good evening girls!

Blogging has turned into a bit of a challenge now that there isn't enough daylight during the week either before or after work to take photos.  What's a girl to do?

I suppose I can start by showing you a manicure I created last weekend which featured Accessorize Lilac Sorbet as the base:

 

 I like this polish; I have no issues with application and it's suitable for work which is always a bonus, especially now that my firm have tightened up our dress code.  There's no mention of nail polish in the dress code policy so let's hope it stays that way.

 Looking at this picture below you will realise you have seen this manicure very recently, but in blue.  I liked it so much that I wanted to wear it to work so I changed the colour scheme to pink.

 I sponged Essence Party Princess on my tips and stamped using m36 and Konad Special White polish.

 Party Princess is a jelly which made me worry that it would look very thick when sponged on but a layer of topcoat got rid of any worries I had.

I loved this manicure the first time I did it, in blue, and I love it just as much, if not more, not that it's in pink.  What do you think of it girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Half-Moon NOTD

Currently watching: The X Factor

Good morning ladies,

Today I'd like to show you a Barry M polish I recently bought, Coral:

 

I picked this up in August but I'm not really sure why.  To be honest, I don't think I'll get much use out of it as it's a jelly.

I didn't really have an idea in mind when I started this manicure so after discovering that Coral was a jelly, I covered alternate nails with Barry M Fuchsia.  Don't look too closely though, I had a lot of problems with smudging.

 To cover up most of the smudging, I decided to do a half-moon design and chose Barry M Gold Foil as my main colour.  I really like the combination of orange, pink and gold.

 However, I thought the end result was too futuristic so I added a coat of gold Saffron glitter.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura